SILLY BHOY
I’m 35 but this shows I can still make the mistakes of a 16-year-old, says Toure after his errors cost Celtic against Germans
CRESTFALLEN Kolo Toure last night blamed his own schoolboy defending for the two goals that have left Celtic’s European dreams hanging by a slender thread.
The highly experienced former Liverpool defender was badly at fault for both goals as Borussia Monchengladbach secured a vital 2-0 Champions League victory at Celtic Park.
And Toure pulled no punches afterwards as to where the finger of blame should be pointed as he said: ‘I’m 35 and making a mistake like a 16-year-old.’
The Bundesliga side’s captain Lars Stindl opened the scoring on 57 minutes after Andre Hahn had robbed Toure as he tried to usher the ball over the bye-line for a corner.
Then Hahn took advantage of a poor pass by the Ivory Coast centre-back to bury the ball past Craig Gordon.
‘In that kind of competition, you can’t afford to
make that kind of mistake,’ added Toure. ‘I have to blame myself because it was a simple action to just put the ball to the side, but I like to play and make the team have the ball. ‘It was over confidence at the first goal and the second was the same. I don’t like to make mistakes but mistakes happen.’ Manager Brendan Rodgers was quick to jump to the defence of his defender, who he described as ‘a warrior’ since his arrival in the summer. But there is little doubt the feelgood factor that followed the 3-3 draw with Manchester City has somewhat lost its lustre. ‘There will be no one more disappointed tonight than Kolo,’ said Rodgers. ‘He is experienced enough to know he should deal with the first one. The second one was unfortunate. The guy has got away and finished it brilliantly with a toe-poke finish. ‘Again, it is why he has been in the game for so long — because he hurts and is an honest player. Tonight will hurt Kolo, but he is also a warrior as well. ‘He is a guy who is very, very mentally tough and he will recover. Tonight, he will hurt, as will the team, as will we all. But we go again tomorrow and give everything for the weekend.’ Captain Scott Brown added: ‘We need to try to bounce back from it. We play from the back and that’s the way the gaffer wants it and that’s the way it should be. ‘We are going to make mistakes and at this level they are costly. In the SPFL, we get away with them but it happened tonight.’ Celtic, who sit bottom of their qualifying group, now realistically need to win the return leg in Germany on November 1. With the German side welcoming back many of their big names who sat out last night’s contest that prospect is going to be all the tougher. Top of the agenda now, however, is Sunday’s encounter with Rangers in their Betfred Cup semi-final. ‘We have to hold our hands up and say we were beaten by the better team and prepare for Sunday’s game,’ added Rodgers.